Bhubaneswar, Jan 23: International sand artist and Padma Shri awardee, Sudarsan Pattnaik has tested positive for Covid-19.

Patnaik took the Twitter to inform the development. “I’ve tested positive for #COVID with strong symptoms. I have quarantined myself at home. Don’t you take this lightly folks, Covid is horribly bad. Mask up always,” read the tweet of Patnaik.

Odisha reported 8,520 new Covid-19 cases including 937 minors in the last 24 hours, informed the health department today. Out of the total positive cases, 4941 cases were from the quarantine centres, while 3579 cases were the local contacts.

With 2262 new positives, Khordha reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.